Concealing Your Poker Style

Every player must adopt a poker style of his own. Some do best to sit woodenly at the table, others find it more effective to keep up a running line of chatter.

Neither type should overdo it Every fine Poker player must be a good actor, but overacting is a heavy liability. It becomes a habit that other players can read.

The important thing is to adopt the style of play and the demeanor that best suits you, and then not stick to either one of them too thoroughly. You must vary your manners and mannerisms, and you must vary your poker style of play. If you ordinarily draw one card to three of a kind (mathematically it is not unsound to hold a kicker with threes, and the deceptive effect is often good), then occasionally you must drawtwo cards to three of a kind, and occasionally you must draw two cards to a pair and a kicker, though the latter play is usually not sound mathematically.

If you seldom stay in on a weak hand, occasionally you should do so. If it is not your style to bluff, occasionally you must bluff. Even in the ultraconservative game, where one must necessarily play conservatively or lose, you must make an occasional unsound play.

I have known dozens of superb Poker players who have only one weakness. They were observant, and analyzed I might even say dissected the playing habits of their opponents. It never occurred to them to draw off mentally and observe themselves in the same way. If they ever had, they could have got rid of some dead-giveaway habits of their own.